21 August 2016

A :azy Sunday, Dolls, & Inspiration

After I was gone most of yesterday at a sublime Merola Grand Finale concert, the conclusion of this summer’s Merola Opera Program, my daughter Mélanie and I spent a lazy Sunday today.

I never got to the research I planned and I still haven’t got to my daily word count. One of the things we did was dress up her collection of dolls who live in a Regency-era American Girl doll parlor (which I couldn’t resist and fortunately Mélanie loves to play with ). I would have liked to put them in all the early 19th century dresses we have, but we ended up with a mix of eras (early 19th century, turn of the 20th century, modern).

The discussion, as we dressed them included “she’s getting ready for a ball” and “she’s having a sleepover” from Mélanie with comments from me about “this is like the dresses the characters wear in Mummy’s books” and “see this mantilla? my Mélanie character wore one in Spain.”

It’s those sort of bits and pieces that started my own historical framework as I grew up. And meanwhile, though I didn’t get any of my own research done, It got some historical inspiration dressing dolls.

Did your interest in history start in childhood? Do you remember what sparked it?